Los Angeles County prosecutors have launched a wide-ranging investigation into allegations of voter fraud and conflicts of interest involving municipal business in Bell, Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said Tuesday.
In an interview with The Times, Cooley described an investigation considerably larger in scope than previously acknowledged by prosecutors, saying that it was "multifaceted, rapidly expanding and full-fledged." Investigators have been gathering evidence since March, he said.
Until now, prosecutors had said only that they were looking at the $100,000 annual salaries paid to four of the five Bell City Council members and were seeking to determine if the payments were larger than allowed under state law. The voting fraud claims and allegations of possible conflicts of interest in city business add significant new issues about how government operated in the small working-class city where top city officials were among the nation's highest paid.
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